Public Relations Problems with Racial Affirmative Action for Law Schools

One of my friends and I got into a discussion about affirmative action in law school. What quickly became apparent is that we had completely different visions of what the objective of law school affirmative actions programs were meant to do. My friend took the position that affirmative action programs were meant to give kids who come from disadvantaged backgrounds a boost in their application either because their test scores do not represent their true ability and/or they have a “unique experience” that would better the class. My position was that affirmative action programs are primarily implemented to ensure the legal profession has racial composition that is proportional to the population they service. AA programs probably are intended to do both, but which objective comes is more important makes all the difference.

If affirmative action programs are primarily implemented to benefit disadvantaged students, then I agree with my friend that racial-based affirmative action are probably not good policy. Socioeconomic class is a better proxy for disadvantagedness than race as socioeconomic class would exclude middle and upper-class minorities and allow impoverished whites to take advantage of affirmative action programs. But there’s a bigger problem with racial-based affirmative action program, the middle and upperclass only see the minorities that are part of the middle and upperclass (aka the people who “don’t need the boost”) get the benefits of the affirmative action boost. This was the case when I was a sophomore in HS. One girl, through completing a genealogy project, discovered she had some Argentinian roots and milked that fact to get into some schools that our school hadn’t sent anyone in years. (For reference, with all but a couple Ivys, my HS sent at least 4 or more people to all but a few Ivy-League schools). So when you have a lot ‘rich white kids’ complain about some minority ‘taking their spot,’ part of it is jealousy, but keep in mind how those rich white kids only see those people ‘who don’t deserve it’ benefit from the system.

On the other hand, if you view affirmative action as a way to help offset the underrepresentation of a racial group in the legal profession, then race-based affirmative action makes more sense. Our nation has a legal history of racial discrimination (against lots of minorities, not just blacks) and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that only having white men in government and practicing law was a large factor in creating and preventing the elimination of discrimination against minorities. Given that racial discrimination is still prevalent in our society, I’m persuaded, but not fully convinced, that there’s an argument that implementing racial affirmative is needed to help end illegal forms of racial discrimination.

I believe that today minorities don’t need ‘one of their own’ to represent them in legal disputes. But I do think that are discriminated against are more likely to notice and empathize with victims of discrimination within their sociopolitical group. And maybe, this empathy makes them a better advocate than an ‘outsider.’ I’d like to think that our country is beyond that line of think, but when the leaders of major black, hispanic, Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, all are typically ‘one of their own,’ it’s a little hard to claim that. The point isn’t that a black person has the right to black lawyer; rather, it’s that the legal profession should not be structured that a minority has little chance of having the most zealous advocate available to represent them. Of course, a program with proportional employment as the objective would have lots of other problems (such as do you calculate the proper proportion by state, region, or nationally and does the calculation for proportionality differ between ‘national’ and ‘regional’ schools). On face though, the proposition doesn’t seem ridiculous.

Even if you could figure out to figure out the right way to implement such an employment focused affirmative-action program, I don’t think it would help the affirmative action debate. Sure there will always be people who hate affirmative action. However the larger problem is that there is no oversight mechanism to ensure law schools are not implementing quotas. And I’m not sure there should be someone peeking through admissions decisions and interfering with the admissions process. Institutions should maintain their ’sovereignty’ over who they deem worthy of admissions; it’s their program after all. I don’t know how you can create the image that affirmative action programs are not being used in a improper way–I don’t think you can. So I view affirmative action as a potentially good idea that will never gain the proper footing it deserves because institutions either choose not to implement ‘legitimate’ programs or can make their programs appear legitimate.

I’m sure someone is wondering why I didn’t touch on the argument that having a diverse student body is essential to a quality education, and thus racial-based affirmative action is OK. I don’t buy this argument. I think that everyone has experiences and that the black kid who faced intense racial discrimination his whole life has an equally compelling story as a white kid who battled through intense child abuse. Both are terrible situations that require great inner strength to overcome, but there is no reason why race is special. I suppose I don’t have a problem with allowing someone with lower test scores but an ‘extraordinary experience’ gain admittance to a school. It just seems that extraordinary experiences is code for ‘welcome blacks and hispanics,’ which gets you right back into the race debate.

Superbowl Thoughts

1. We should all be thankful that the New Orleans Saints won the SuperBowl. Why? Because this is bad karma for the Colts sacking games at the end of the season. Because the media will finally shut up about what these Saints means for New Orleans. And how can you not be a Drew Brees fan. Sure, Reggie Bust finally manned up and became a NFL player, but Breesy F. Baby FTW!

2. The Superbowl Commercials sucked. The Bud Light commercial with the house made of Bud Light, the Budweiser Bridge and the Stevie Wonder Car commercial were good. Other than that, the rest of them were atrocious. I wish I had tuned into the Puppy Bowl during commercial breaks.

3. The Who. Honestly, multiple Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunctions couldn’t have saved that show. The lights were cool though.

4. I wish I was in the French Quarter right now.

5. Whoever came up with the show Undercover Boss should be fired.

My First Law School Visit

This upcoming weekend, I’m making my first visit to a law school. Part of the problem with evaluating law schools is that their admitted students conflict either with each other or events that I want to attend back on campus. Consequently, I have to visit some schools outside of their admitted students program.

My decision process has been pretty irrational about how I go about deciding what law schools. Normal people would probably factor in cost, desire to go to school, time it takes to travel. Me? I’m all about which city I’d rather be in for two days vs an overnight stay. Period. I have to say, a two day stint in DC, NY or Boston* sounds a lot more appealing than spending some time in Nowhere, USA. It’s not that I hate the the Nowhere USAs, I’d just rather spend more time visiting a city.

*These are just examples of major cities and should no way imply one way or another that I am considering attending a school in any of these areas.

Sacking the Seniors

Many student employees of the University are getting fired. It’s no surprise with the economy, shrinking endowments and general financial hardships on higher education. I suppose it shouldn’t be a surprise that almost all the people I know that are getting fired are Seniors. Sure, I primarily know Seniors, but it also makes sense from a business standpoint. These employees are going to be leaving you at the end of May or the summer while everyone else can go for one year at least.

So to fire people with cause, the University has, from various student accounts, instructed mid-level management to seek out any reason for why you could fire a senior. It’s pretty hard to do a job when someone is looking for that one reason to get rid of you. You are bound to make a mistake. The economy adds another layer of doom and gloom. Instead of being able to enjoy these final three months of some sort of solid pay before you enter the real world, the University has decided to do it for you–before you even receive your diploma no less. Talk about salting the wounds.

Whose Turn Is It Anyways?

If it has to be one thing that bothers me, it’s the subtle actions of acquaintances/friends and whether their actions demonstrate they care less about you than you care about them or if you are reading way too much into things.

Example: You try and make plans with a friends and they are of the vague variety of “let’s meet up sometime on Thursday and go out.” You will not meet up on Thursday because neither of you contacted each other to follow-up. When you wonder why plans fall through, you realize that it is you who has taken the initiative in making plans to meet up with this person and that this person doesn’t really make an effort to call you up and ask what you are doing. When it’s phrased that way, it looks like this friend isn’t so much of a friend.

On the other hand, a phone works both ways. Maybe you are just focusing on the negative aspects on a relationship and are forgetting the lapses you’ve made towards your friend. Maybe you are a just having a hard time swallowing the fact that people suck, and they really need concrete plans and a reminder to make things happen. Dating has taught me that if you have not set a date, time, or place for an event, you have not made a date.

I’ve noticed a different but similar phenomenon with choosing to join someone to study at the library. Scenario: You are studying at a table with three extra chairs when a friend who just got the library passes by your table. You strike up a small-talk convo, and they leave your area to sit at an empty table two tables to your right. Is this person making a statement about the strength of your friendship, or do they just want their own table/private study space?

Obviously a close friend would join you at a table and would call you up to make plans. But not every friend is a close friend. So for those who are just friends, what’s the consensus on if you are reading too much into things?

(If it isn’t obvious, my plans fell through last night. But this is something that I’ve thought of before and am really just wondering if I’m crazy.)

Why I Don’t Go Clubbing

Montreal was a lot of fun. Walked around the city and spent a lot of time in the bar having a fantastic time without worrying the last couple of months before the end of school. Unfortunately, the most memorable night was the god-awful night my friends persuaded me to go clubbing.

First, I hate clubbing. As my bio says, I am a white jewish boy, which of course is code for ‘cannot bust the most basic dance move with a lifetime supply of Klondike Bars on the line.’ I’d much rather startup a convo with a stranger than communicate through dance. Second on this particular occasion, I had forgotten to pack any shoes other than boots. Clubbing in boot perfect. Now my dancing incompetence will be on display even more prominently (that’s assuming I wasn’t already at rock bottom).

By the time we got to the club, there was a long line to get in and I was secretly hoping that everyone would just want to go to the bars. Unfortunately, my friends decide to jump the line and thankfully no one throws a fit. After a short wait we are able to get out of the god-awful cold and wait inside while people go through metal detectors and possibly further security screening. Of course, once I get to the the ‘metal detector’ I realize that they aren’t metal detectors (or at least they were ones that allowed me to walk through with my phone and keys without making a sound) and I get a nice pat down around the crown jewels. Then we go to the club.

I have to admit I liked the club at first. The DJ was playing some good music, the atmosphere was nice. This all changed after I ordered my first and last drink of the night. Let me be perfectly clear: this drink was the worst drink I have ever drunk. And I’ve drank Milwaukee’s Best. Hell, there was even a time I was so desperate that I took a skunked can with just the big yellow block letters of the word BEER. And all those were still better than this 8 dollar watered down vodka.

Maybe around an hour into it, I’m dancing with this girl who wants to go meet up with her friends, so we start pushing our way through the dance floor. While I’m walking through the crowd, I see these two girls violently pushing each other around. Being me, I have to stop and be an onlooker, and when it appears Blondie is about to sucker-punch the Redhead, I grab Blondie’s wrist and try and drag her away. Blondie decides that because she can’t throw a punch at her first target, she might as well go after the person who prevented her from doing so. Fortunately for me, she’s pretty drunk and I don’t even have to flinch to avoid the punch. I push off her trying to find that girl I was with earlier or someone from my group.

No such luck on the girl hunt, but I find one of my friends who said they wanted to leave. Apparently one of the bouncers punched someone in the face for no reason. As we walk we discover that yet another brawl has broken out  in the coat check area. Speaking of coat check, the club lost one of my friends coats. The temperature in Montreal was -28 with windchill that night. Fun indeed.

Other than that though, Montreal was fun.

I Swear I Was Set Up

I wanted to do a research paper on Highly Contentious Issue and how various NGOs are affecting policy decisions on Highly Contentious Issue. My Professor recommended that I e-mail this VIP who is the expert on one of my NGOs for some sources and opinions on NGOs position on Highly Contentious Issue. I send off an e-mail excited for a reply.

The Response?

Sorry, I don’t know anything about this topic. I suggest you go to NGO website and search for Name of Highly Contentious Issue.

I don’t know how to react to this message. I would have preferred the second sentence to simply not have existed. Should I feel like an idiot because of the response or for following the common sense advice of your prof only to be mercilessly shot down? Regardless, the ego has taken a hit.

Being a Real Second Semester Senior

I don’t post nearly as much as last semester. I can’t really figure out why because my life was a lot busier last semester than this one. Perhaps that the reason: when you are busy, you have things to talk about.

Speaking of things to talk about, I’m going to Canada this weekend to party. I’m tired of bar and party scene around here. So were a bunch of friends. Consequently, we booked a hotel room a from Weds-Sunday. Expensive, slightly. Well worth it (considering I’m going nowhere for spring break) absolutely. And the miles aren’t going on my car (hello 10 hour drive) so who am I to complain. But in reality, it is this moment I’ve been waiting for; to just do nothing second semester and I’m going to take advantage of it.

Expect blog silence until probably Tuesday.

On Social Network Absurdity

This post on Facebook > Myspace got me thinking about how absurd social networking is.

First relationships – It’s a given at least 50% of the time, I will find out if someone has started a relationships, become engaged, recently married or ended a relationship I will find out via facebook. And it all seems a little ridiculous that I no longer talk to people about their lives. I find out about it via facebook. Plus it’s completely stupid how facebook manages to actually affect your relationship with your significant other. Once upon a time some idiot created the phrase “if it isn’t facebook official, then it’s not an official relationship.” For some reason the world decided to give this fool his moment in the sun and now it says something about your relationship if it isn’t on facebook. The internet is slowly consuming our lives

Second Privacy – Facebook and all other social networkings sites have a tough time managing privacy. On the one hand they really want to sell your information and make it available. Doing that = dollar dollar bills. On the other hand, everyone gets upset when they find out their information is being sold or trolled by (prospective) employers. The result: everything on your social networking has to be a true inside joke or politically correct because you have no idea who is looking at you facebook. Not only do most people (I know) use their middle name as their last name in order to avoid being found on facebook, but everyone has their profile protected like whoah. In our ever-increasing public world, every thing that is public must be “PR Appropriate.”

Lastly my parents and relatives are on social networking sites. When the parents have jumped on the bandwagon, doesn’t that mean the shark has been jumped?

Workout Fail

I decided to start some strength training to build up that metabolism to help loose weight. My only problem was that I completely forgot about delayed onset muscle soreness. Yesterday I decided to start a split routine doing my chest, shoulders, tripcps, and abs on A days and biceps, back and legs on B days. It looks like the B days will have to wait for a little bit. I am currently unable to use my upper-body to do anything meaningful. You know you are sore when putting shampoo in your hair is a major struggle.